A multi-directional input apparatus of this type called joystick is usually supported in a case such that the apparatus can be turned in two directions perpendicular to each other, and comprises a set of upper and lower turning members having long holes each extending in a direction perpendicular to the turning direction, an operating member passing through the long holes of the set of upper and lower turning members for turning the turning members by operating the operating member in an arbitrary circumferential direction, a spring compressed and accommodated in the case for resiliently holding the operating member in its neutral position, a returning mechanism for automatically returning the operating member from a position where the operating member is operated in an arbitrary direction therearound to a neutral position, and a set of signal output means for outputting a signal corresponding to the turning angle of each the turning member.
In such a multi-directional input apparatus, in order prevent the operating member from being pulled out, a lower portion of the operating member is supported by a lower turning member such that the operating member can turn in a direction of the long hole. As a pivotally supporting mechanism of the operating member, in a multi-directional input apparatus described in each of Japanese Utility Model Publication Nos. H5-19925, H7-27608 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.H10-283885, for example, a lower portion of the operating member is connected to a lower turning member by means of a pin directed to a direction perpendicular to the long hole. With this structure, the operating member is turned in the direction of the long hole of the lower turning member, thereby turning the upper turning member. Further, the operating member is turned together with the lower turning member in the direction of the long hole of the upper turning member, thereby turning the lower turning member.
As the returning mechanism for automatically returning the operating member from a position where the operating member is operated in an arbitrary direction therearound to a neutral position, a multi-directional input apparatus described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. H5-19925 employs a structure in which a push up member biased upward by a spring resiliently hold the set of upper and lower turning members at the neutral position.
Further, a multi-directional input apparatus described in each of Japanese Utility Model Publication Nos. H7-27608 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.H10-283885 employs a structure, as the returning mechanism, in which a pan-like operating body provided on a lower end of the operating member is resiliently pressed upward by means of a spring provided below the operating body, thereby resiliently holding only the operating member at the neutral position.
However, these conventional multi-directional input apparatuses have the following problems relating the pivotally supporting mechanism of the operating member and the returning mechanism.
In any of these multi-directional input apparatuses, since an intermediate portion of the operating member is connected to the lower turning member by means of the pin, the number of parts is increased. Further, the entire length of the operating member is increased, and it is difficult to reduce the apparatus in size and height.
Concerning the returning mechanism for returning the operating member to the neutral position, according to the multi-directional input apparatus described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. H5-19925, although the set of upper and lower turning members are directly held at the neutral position, the operating member is held at the neutral position only indirectly. On the contrary, in the case of the multi-directional input apparatus described in each of Japanese Utility Model Publication Nos. H7-27608 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.H10-283885, although the operating member is directly held at the neutral position, the set of upper and lower turning members are held at the neutral position only indirectly. Therefore, in any of these apparatuses, the returning precision of the operating member and the turning members to the neutral positions is not sufficient.
The present invention has been accomplished in view of these circumstances, and it is a first object of the invention to provide a multi-directional input apparatus in which the apparatus can easily be reduced in size including its height. It is a second object of the invention to provide a multi-directional input apparatus in which the returning precision of the operating member to the neutral position is high.